Electro-hydrodynamic (“EHD”) wind energy conversion is a process wherein electrical energy is extracted directly from wind energy. An EHD system is typically a solid-state device that uses wind energy to act against an electrostatic field, separating charged elements from a charged source. In concept, this system can convert wind kinetic energy to electrical potential energy in the form of charges collected at very high voltages.
Past investigations into this field, however, have been fraught with many problems that rendered the energy collection insufficient when compared to the energy input for operating the EHD system. In particular, as an EHD system collects charge from the separation of the charged particles, the system creates an electric field (also called a system field 120) that opposes the motion of the charges. The system field may cancel and even overwhelm the electric field used to charge the particles in the EHD system. As a result, the charge supplied to a charged element (e.g., droplets in a charged liquid spray) is reduced due to the interference of the system field with the charging field. This lowers the working current and power output of the entire system. Additionally, the charged particles that are emitted to the wind stream encounter a very large opposing electrostatic force (also called a space charge 122, shown in FIG. 1), created by the cloud of previously released charged particles downwind from the injector exit, which promotes shorting of the droplets to the charging elements or other components rather than entrainment in the wind stream where the charged particle can contribute to energy harvesting as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, there is a need in the electro-hydrodynamic wind energy conversion field to create new and useful systems and methods for controlling magnitude and direction of the electric field in electro-hydrodynamic applications. This invention provides such a new and useful system and method.